LEOMINSTER -- Raising a child who has been diagnosed with autism can be a significant challenge.

Couple that with a language barrier, and the challenge is even tougher.

That was the situation Maribel Rueda faced when she learned her son was autistic in 1998. She decided to do something about it.

"When my son was diagnosed, I was a Latina basically looking for resources, and there was nothing," said Rueda.

Although she is bilingual, Rueda said it still wasn't easy for her to find the resources she needed. She then began meeting other Latino families that were left on their own to educate themselves about the disorder.

Rueda's dream is to open up the first bilingual autism center in New England that will be a place where parents who don't speak English can go for advice and information about autism.

Rueda and her son, Esteban, created Autism Geniuses of the World, a nonprofit meant to reach out to Latino families struggling with the lack of services and information.

When her son, Esteban, was diagnosed, very little was known about autism, and Rueda was told by doctors that Esteban would eventually be put in an institution for autistic adults.

"The first thing they told me was to brace for the worst," she said, "They said, 'He won't be speaking to you, his development won't be normal, and most likely he will end up in an institution.'"

After working through a denial phase, it didn't help that every medical professional Rueda visited for help offered her the same opinion -- that her son would eventually be institutionalized.

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The first few years of his childhood, she said, were tough.

He had temper tantrums, would frequently take off his clothes and began hitting himself.

Rueda said she didn't understand, or know how to control, his sensitivity to loud or high-pitched noises.

For someone who has never seen anything like it before, she said, or for parents struggling to understand autistic behavior, it can be overwhelming.

She said a lot of families become overwhelmed and just give up because they think the rest of their lives are going to be filled with outbursts.

Rueda said that's where her nonprofit can offer hope through education.

She explains to families how she began attending seminars, reading everything she could about autism and participating in parent support groups to become educated about the disorder.

She said she wants to be able to bring those same resources to Latino parents and explain how early intervention can help in some cases.

"There should be more clinics and pediatricians who reach out to these families," said Rueda.

Rueda said one out of 88 children is diagnosed with autism and one out 93 in the Latino population. She said the number of Latino children with autism could be higher, but most families don't come forward because most minority families are resistant to asking for help. She said some just assume they should keep their child's condition to themselves.

Her fiance lived in Uruguay and after meeting Esteban told Rueda that he never knew the "immense ability that autistic people have," she said.

Ruega said her fiance remembered seeing children in Uruguay with autism and thinking they had a diminished mental capacity because it wasn't a known condition in the country.

"The way to change (the stigma) is to create more community-based early-intervention clinics and resources," she said.

Her center, she said, would encourage families to ask questions to doctors, to know which Individualized Education Program would be right for their child.

Rueda said Esteban would be able to help children at the center as well by teaching them how to cook, why he is always in his room with the lights off, why it's important to wear headphones, and why he keeps his room organized and clean.

Despite what doctors told her when Esteban was first diagnosed, the now 19-year-old has made great gains in his development, Rueda said.

He attends the life-skills program at Leominster High School.

Two years ago, he became something of a celebrity when he created a video asking comedian and talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres to his prom.

Esteban told his mother he wasn't going to go to his prom because he thought he didn't have friends and no one would want to go with him.

"He said to me that he wanted to go to the prom with Ellen Degeneres. He said she was his buddy," said Rueda.

His classmates, teachers and police officers in Maynard helped him create the video and send it out to DeGeneres.

The video went viral on YouTube and even sparked a following internationally from Australia.

Rueda, who relocated to Leominster several months ago, plans to get in touch with local churches and schools to provide more information about her nonprofit.

For more information about Esteban's journey and Rueda's work visit Autism Geniuses of the World's Facebook page.

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